Corvette

19th Annual Suncoast Corvette Show at The Pier St. Petersburg Florida car photographer 2012

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Custom Corvette with scissor doors at 19th Annual Suncoast Corvette Show in St. Petersburg - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 9-exposure HDR tripod mounted with cable releaseAt high noon I ventured out to downtown St. Petersburg, Florida to the 19th Annual Suncoast Corvette Show at The Pier.  The Florida sun was beating down mercilessly paying no regard that today was September 1st.  If I am honest, Corvettes are not my favorite cars, except for the 1959 vintage, but it was still an opportunity to be around sports cars and further motivation to own a proper sports car of my own in the future.  The very customized Corvette seen above with scissor doors among other modifications was tricky to frame how I wanted as is usually the case when shooting at a car show where any number of obstacles are in the way and in the background.  Finally by tilting my camera was I able to get the doors fully in the shot.  I removed a few things digitally front the background leaving only a clean blue sky to frame this Corvette.

Lots of color at the 19th Annual Corvette Show at The Pier 2012 in St. Petersburg FloridaThough there was a significant lack of shade, I was suprised by how well The Pier location was for displaying a large number of cars.  The square ring surrounding The Pier allowed for plenty of space to line up Corvette after Corvette, most with their hoods up proudly showing off their engines.

The most powerful Corvette ever made, the ZR1 - Nikon D300 Nikkor 105mm VR micro @ f/8 ISO 200 5-exposure HDR whit background added digitallyWhen shooting at a car show my approach is usually to first look for wide shots using my 17-50mm lens, then switch to my trusty Nikkor 105mm VR micro lens (how Nikon naming refers to macro, not a typo) for detail shots like the one above just showing a Corvette ZR1 front fender and wheel.  Since the cars at these events are always parked so closely together, opting for detail shots intstead of whole car images I believe is a good strategy for increasing your chances of getting usable shots, but that I mean shots that actually look like they are of the car, not of a car at a car show.

Outdoor Classic Car Show in Saint Petersburg in brief

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This real (not replica) green Ford Cobra was a real show stopper.

I really like to photograph cars, but I very rarely get to do it on purpose.  I had no idea a classic car show was going on just a few miles from my Saint Petersburg home until I happened upon it as I was leaving a meeting about an upcoming HDR gallery exhibition.  I was very glad I did though.  There were some real beauties at the show, but I focused on the Ford Cobras and a 1963 Chevrolet Corvette split window.

This Ford Cobra was a replica, but from this angle looked pretty true to form.

Lately I have been thinking about how only old things have any value.  For cars, to me, it is absolutely true.  These classics are beloved works of art.  I think of the cars rolling off robotic assembly lines today and think, how many will be in car shows 40 years from now?  Probably not any.

Staring up the nose of a beautiful 1963 Chevrolet Corvette split window..

The 1963 Chevrolet Corvette split window is one of the all-time classics and a rarity.  It's a truly beautiful car with so much character that one cannot even compare it to any car of today, not even another Corvette.  

The split rear window of the famous 1963 Chevrolet Corvette as seen at a Saint Petersburg classic car show.

I just hope there are enough of these classic cars in good condition still around by the time I can afford one of them.  What a feeling it must be to cruise down the street in a piece of motoring history!

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